Greenspan: Recession ‘small price to pay’ to fix debt

Former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday that a mild recession would be a “small price to pay” for getting the nation’s debt problems under control.

In an interview with CNN’s Ali Velshi, Greenspan said cutting spending on “so-called social benefits” would hurt the economy, but argued that it would cause less damage than raising taxes.

“I think if we have to have a moderate recession to solve this huge fiscal problem that’s in front of us — I think that’s a very small price to pay,” he said. “We’re not going to get out of this thing without pain.”